True Love
by Amazing TEEN Authoress
Summary: Have you ever had that kind of feeling like something exciting was going to happen? That giddy feeling where you just knew that the day was going to be life-changing? I've had it before. And it was life-changing. Because after meeting Clint Barton, my life was never the same again.
1. Chapter 1: Close Call

**New story! Don't you just love those? This story isn't really about Cora. So who is it about? My BFF, Rachel Inglis! This is her story about how she became the Eagle and how she fell in love with Clint Barton. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Close Call

Have you ever had that kind of feeling like something exciting was going to happen? That giddy feeling where you just knew that the day was going to be life-changing? I've had it before. It all started on April 15th, 2010, three days past my fifteenth birthday. It started out as a normal day, which is the funny thing, but it led to something much bigger. I was a normal kid, with chocolate brown hair that had blond highlights, and brown eyes. I was pretty short for my age, only standing at 5'1", much shorter than my classmates' average 5'3" or 5'4", and much shorter than Raegan and Samantha's jaw-dropping 5'6". I'd always been a short kid; I was the fourth-shortest in my seventh-grade class. I didn't mind being short, though. It was better than being hideously tall.

A bunch of girls were hovering over Linnea's seat, looking at something in her hands. I leaned over the back of the seat and saw the headline of a newspaper.

**FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD ATTACKED BY HYDRA**

**On Wednesday, April 14****th****, 2010, fifteen-year-old Samantha Thom was sitting at the curb at Valleyview High School, waiting for her mother to pick her up from school. That was when two men in dark suits crept up on her. Samantha, known as Sam, escaped with only a few bruises and cuts, and handled the attack with poise. SEE B3 for details.**

"_Sammy_?" I exclaimed. "I hope she's okay!"

"It says she only got a cut or a bruise or two," Linnea reminded me. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

We stopped at Sam's house then. She was instantly bombarded with questions, but I didn't say anything. After one more stop at Cora's house as we headed down the hill, the bus returned to normal. Sam answered her classmates' questions, seemingly not bothered by them.

"Did you hear about Sam's attack yesterday?" I asked my best friend.

"Yes, and I only hate them more now," Cora snapped. She was not a big fan of HYDRA. She'd been around in the World War II days when HYDRA had been a big threat.

The bus pulled up at school, and we all raced off. The bell rang, and we went to our classes. My first class was P.E., with Mrs. Humphrey. After class, I volunteered to gather up the pylons and cones and equipment. Mrs. Humphrey took the class back inside. As I gathered up the stuff, I noticed two black figures creeping up. I could only guess who they were. Whatever, though, I'd deal with them on my own. I was more than capable.

They were stronger than I'd bargained for when they attacked. I was helpless against them. One of them clapped their hand over my mouth, and they both dragged me off toward a black car parked on the other side of the road. I shook my head, trying to force the man's hand off my mouth, but he was relentless. He didn't sway in my attempts to escape.

Another man in black approached. Was he with my captors? Cora's head peeked out the door. "Rachel?" she called. She looked further and spotted me, held captive by these two men in black. "Rachel!" She started running. The door slammed behind her, but she didn't notice.

"Let her go!" she shouted at the men.

The other man in black drew an arrow from the quiver that he had slung over his shoulder. He aimed the arrow at one of the men holding me captive, but the other held a knife to my throat.

"One shot and she dies," he threatened.

"You're not going to do that," the man who I thought was on my side retorted. "Let the girl go and walk away. She's not worth your time here."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" my captor snapped. "I can do whatever I want with her. I'll kill her if you shoot."

"No, you won't!" Cora cried.

The man seemed to recognize Cora's voice. "You!" he spat. "What are you doing here?"

"Going to school," she answered. "It's none of your business, really. Let. Rachel. Go." She took her own golden bow and aimed an arrow at him. "I will shoot. I'm not going to hesitate"

"Go back to class, whoever you are," the man aiming at my other captor instructed. "I've got this under control."

"I really don't think…" Cora argued.

"I'm _handling it_!" he snapped. Cora looked shocked at his authoritive voice.

"Yes," she gasped. She raced back to the door.

The man who was "handling it" shot at my other captor. The only man left pressed the knife deeper into my throat. The killer of the other man loosened his grip on the arrow. The man with the knife slashed the knife across my throat. The one with the bow and arrows shot. I collapsed to the ground now that he wasn't holding onto me.

Blood trickled out of my throat. My rescuer picked up in his arms. He took me over to a silver Suburban car and laid me across the back seat. I stared at the roof of the car for the whole ride.

He eventually stopped. We were at the hospital. He carried me into the emergency room, where a bunch of nurses started caring for me.

"What's her name?" someone asked my rescuer.

"I don't know," he said. "I was getting ready to head back to headquarters when I saw them attack. I'm from SHIELD, and I've been assigned to this area while HYDRA is at large here. My name is Agent Clint Barton."

"What's your name, honey?" a nurse asked kindly.

"Rachel… Inglis…" I choked out.

Something inside me shut down, and I fell back into blackness.


	2. Chapter 2: The Argument

About half an hour later, I strolled out of emergency to find my parents and my older sister waiting for me. Sarah was oblivious to the activity around her, simply playing with a blue stuffed Elmo she'd brought. My sister has a brain disorder, and acts two instead of sixteen. My parents, however, were on red alert. They looked anxiously as I held onto the nurse's arm for balance.

"Your daughter is going to be fine," the nurse assured my mom and dad. "Her throat may ache for a couple of days, but just have her take two Tylenol a day, and she'll be fine by Saturday. She was very lucky that Agent Barton was there to rescue her."

"Where is he?" Mom asked. "I'd like to thank him. She might have died."

"He left, I'm afraid," the nurse replied. "He said he had to get back to work. He said to tell you 'you're welcome'."

"Thanks for your work," Dad said, shaking the nurse's hand.

"It's no trouble," the nurse said.

Mom and Dad took me out to the car. They took me for ice cream, and then dropped me back off at school.

"Be careful," Mom begged me. "Don't go outside at lunch. Those guys might still be around. They're dangerous, and you know that." I nodded, and went back inside.

I was assaulted with many questions when I got back in. I answered them absentmindedly, but all I could think about was Agent Barton, and how he'd saved me even though I was a random stranger.

"I'm glad you're okay," Cora said as we sat down to lunch. "I was worried when you didn't come back in. Mrs. Joseph asked me to check on you, and when I saw those two guys holding you, I assumed the worst. You're very lucky Clint was there to rescue you."

"Was that Agent Barton's name?" I muttered.

"Yes," my best friend confirmed. "I've never met him, but I've seen his file on the SHIELD database. He's an excellent archer, almost as good as me! He also knows Nat and Cash."

"And he likes them, I suppose?" I snapped.

"Ooh, is someone jealous?" she teased.

"Shut up!" I hissed.

"I'm kidding!" she exclaimed. "You're sure testy! What did they give you at the hospital?"

"Nothing!" I snapped. "Okay, maybe I'm a little bit jealous, but what's it to you?"

"Oh, I'm just curious," she assured me. "It's natural, you know." She elbowed me playfully, but I glared at her.

"Are _you_ jealous of _me_?" I guessed. "Are you jealous because I'm in love with someone and you're not?"

"No!" she cried. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, duh, because your boyfriend's gone," I sighed. "He's frozen in a coma, and has been for, like, seventy years."

"I'm not jealous!" she exclaimed. "Besides, how do you know you'll get him? You'll probably never see him again!"

"How do you know I _won't_ get him?" I retorted. "He's in the area, I'm bound to see him sometime. This city's smaller than you think. We'll probably run into each other at, like, Walmart or something."

"What would Clint Barton be doing in Walmart?" she teased.

"It was an example!" I cried. "I'm probably more fit for a relationship right now than you, anyways! You're still a train wreck from the disaster that was your last-and only- relationship!"

"How could you say that?" she whispered. I could see the tears in her eyes glistening, and I felt terrible. But my anger was too high to stop now. "You're supposed to be my friend, to encourage me, to be there for me, not to insult me!" Without another word, she stood up from the table and ran out of the school.

"Did you say something shitty to Cora?" Shaylyn snapped. "Why was she hightailing it out of here? You sounded like you were in a pretty heated argument."

"It's none of your business," I hissed, and the image of Clint popped into my head again. Those guys kidnapping hadn't been his business, either, but he'd interfered.

I stood up and stormed out of the lunch room, as well. At least then I could think in peace.


	3. Chapter 3: Irony

Later, I went shopping with my parents at Walmart- ironically- and my mom kept asking questions. "Why didn't I see Cora when I picked you up at school? You usually procrastinate and hang out with her until the last minute," she commented. "Even then, she usually watches us leave."

"Oh, she ditched school for the rest of the day," I lied, though it was pretty much true. She hadn't shown up to French after lunch, and she'd also missed Math.

"Why?" Mom pressed.

"I don't know," I said. I pretended to be interested in the DVD case of _Star Trek: Voyager_, even though it was a movie I hated. "I can't believe that they put all of these on DVD just because _Star Trek_ came out last year."

"You hate that movie," Mom insisted, noticing the DVD in my hand. "Come on, what's really bothering you?"

"Nothing!" I exclaimed. "Everything's fine!" Even though she shut up, she didn't seem to buy my story.

"Do you want to buy that, or are you going to put it back?" snapped a worker, noticing that I still had the _Star Trek_ DVD in my hands. I hastily put it back.

Instead, I took a copy of _Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan_ and put it into the cart.

"Rachel, we're going now," Mom said.

"I'll stay a little longer," I said. "I'll take the bus home."

Mom nodded. "Be home by five."

"Okay." I turned and headed over to a selection of various CDs. Among them, I noticed Taylor Swift's newest album, _Speak Now_, in a long line of her previous albums.

A large poster advertised an album from a band named The Band Perry. It wasn't to come until October 12th.

"You like that movie?" a voice made me jump and drop the _Iron Man 2_ soundtrack I held. I bent over and picked it up. When I'd put it back on the shelf and turned around, I gasped.

"Are you stalking me?" I demanded. Clint Barton was standing on the other side of the aisle, smirking.

"Just in case." He winked.

"I am perfectly capable of protecting myself!" I exclaimed.

"Then why did you nearly get killed earlier today?" he asked.

"They just… caught me off guard," I muttered.

Clint rolled his eyes. "So how do you know Cora Stark?"

I started walking towards the Starbucks that was connected to the store. "We're friends."

He easily kept up with my quickened pace. "By the sound of things, you're more than friends."

"Okay, best friends," I admitted.

"I thought so," Clint said.

"Why? What've you got against her?" I asked. "You didn't seem all too happy when she showed up to save me."

"Let's just say that we've not always been on the best of terms," Clint replied.

I got into the line for Starbucks. I ordered a Frappuccino Mocha.

"Seriously, are you stalking me?" I asked Clint as he followed me out to the nearest bus stop that took passengers to Juniper. I had to walk a long way, and the whole way, Clint followed.

"Only under orders," Clint said. "I've been assigned to this area while there are HYDRA workers around. When they've gone, I can leave."

I had to walk all the way to Thompson Rivers University to get to the bus stop that took passengers to Juniper.

The bus was just pulling up when we got there.

"Well, it was nice to officially meet you," Clint said. He shook my hand. As he did, I felt something crackle inside. He left me after, but as he walked away, he winked.

The bus pulled up, and I got on. When I sat down in my seat, I looked at what he'd given me. It was a crumpled-up piece of paper. It said, in scrawled writing:

**VALLEYVIEW SECONDARY. TUESDAY NIGHT NEXT WEEK, AT 10:00. BE ON TIME.**

I smiled and sighed. There was no way I'd be able to make it. Everyone in my house went to bed at 9:00.


End file.
